UH attorney admits to covering up for UH Chancellor & sweatshop labor use

This morning UH SAS asked UH General Counsel Dona Cornell for the status of the Texas Attorney General’s legal opinion about the University task force recommendation that the University affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). Even though the UH task force recommended joining the WRC like 182 universities and colleges all across the country have already done (see WRC affiliated schools) UH Chancellor Renu Khator claimed in her press release Monday July 7 that “I have asked our General Counsel to consult with the Texas Attorney General to determine if there is a barrier or legal reason UH should not join this group.” Khator’s statements suggest a stall tactic and today we have the evidence that proves Khator is stalling and failing to follow her own task force recommendation to affiliate with the WRC, a third party independent labor monitoring organization.

UH Counsel Cornell’s email admitted that she had already had these conversations and had written correspondence with the attorney general about this. However when SAS asked when she would be making her recommendation to Chancellor Khator, Cornell clammed up and claimed that “It would not be appropriate for me to have this type of discourse with you.”

Cornell also admitted that she had not even asked the Texas Attorney General (TAG) for an opinion letter. An opinion letter from the TAG would state whether or not he thought it would be legal to take a particular course of action. An opinion letter from the TAG is not an actual legal ruling. That could only come from a judge, however the UH General Counsel’s office regularly relies on opinion letters. For example, Cornell’s office routinely attempts to hide contracts between the University and its food service providers Aramark, bookstore contractor Barnes and Nobles, apparel manufacturers Adidas, beverage contractor Coca Cola and more. In each of those cases the TAG has ordered the UH general counsel to release the contracts in their entirety to Students Against Sweatshops.

Read Cornell’s devastating admission to her cover up for Dr. Khator and the use of sweatshop labor by UH to manufacture UH logo clothes: cornell-cover-up

Stay tuned for our press conference. We will release the location, date and time later today.